After billions in tax increases, Californians deserve a tax cut

Californians has the highest poverty rate in the nation, the highest gas and vehicle licensing taxes, and the highest personal income and sales taxes in the nation even though Sacramento is sitting on a $4.6 billion budget surplus.

For millions of Californians, the state has been rendered unaffordable because of foolish and counter-productive policies emanating from Sacramento. A shocking one-third of California renters spend at least half of their take-home pay on rent, and only 40 percent can afford to purchase a median-priced home. Little wonder, then, that one in five Californians lives in poverty — the highest poverty rate in the nation.

Small businesses are struggling as well. Nationwide, nearly ten percent of new entrepreneurs start from at or below the poverty line, but according to the Institute for Justice, California is third worst in terms of burdensome licensing laws.

At every moment of every day, Californians are taxed. We have the highest personal income, sales, and gas taxes in the nation. Even though Sacramento is sitting on a $4.6 billion budget surplus, high state taxes are continuing to gouge hard working Californians. In fact, over $15 billion in annual tax increases have been enacted since Gov. Brown took the reins in 2010.

Thankfully, there is a better way to improve the lives of all Californians.

Taxpayers, small businesses, families, homeowners and renters can finally get some relief through the California Competitiveness and Innovation Act (AB1922), which was recently introduced in the state Legislature and is supported by the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association.

Small businesses employ about half of our state’s private sector workforce, providing people with their jobs and livelihood. The people who own these businesses are our friends, neighbors, brothers, sisters, moms and dads who are being stripped of their hard earned dollars by non-stop tax and fee increases year after year.

California needs to reverse its notorious reputation of being anti-business. We can start by eliminating the $800 franchise tax on small companies. An $800 annual tax on a business that might earn as little as $9,040 a year is absurd. No other state in the nation discourages businesses by imposing such a tax.

The bill will also lower the state personal income tax rate for ordinary Californians. Working-class individuals and families struggle enough as it is, and even though wages are on the rise, they haven’t kept up with the high cost of living. The proposal will allow working and middle class families to pay a lower state income tax rate. California should encourage people to work hard and dream big in this state without worrying if they can afford to live and work here.

The Orange County Register To read the entire column, please click here.

Low water supplies leave farmers in a bind

Share with: Joel Allen, a Central Valley Project grower who farms row and field crops in the Westlands Water District west of Firebaugh, says he hopes the CVP increases its 20 percent water allocation for south-of-delta water contractors. Photo/Lisa Lieberman AG Alert–With reservoirs at or above average storage levels and the Sierra Nevada snowpack improved by storms in March and early April, farmers await word from federal and state water agencies about whether water allocations might improve. During a winter in which the snowpack reached only about half of average levels, both the federal Central Valley Project and the State...